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I got to grade 1 when I was 13/14 nearly 25 years ago and stopped shortly after mostly due to circumstances outside my control.I've wanted to go back for years now and finally did last October.

Yesterday I sat my ABRSM grade 2 exam :-D

I was fine for the first couple of minutes but then I started to get really nervous and I don't know why. I think I did well enough for a pass but I keep thinking "what if I did worse than I thought?"Nothing I can do about it now but looking forward to getting the results.

Good for you, Bozzo, for sitting the exam and for making it back to the piano. Performing in front of others gives many of us a real case of the jitters, although it does get better the more you do it.

Oh, and welcome to the AOTW thread....Keep us updated on your progress. I'll jump the gun a bit and congratulate your passing.

I was able to practice yesterday and the day before yesterday in Brighton. I cannot disclose the location but here's the pic. I was able to obtain permission to use the piano before I left home. The piano is an old Bluthner (spelling?) but it's amazingly in tune. Apart from occasional fear of ghosts I'm enjoying practice in this old place.

Farmgirl, the setting of your practice sessions in the UK is really great! Definitely something to remember!

My AOTW is not mine but my teacher's... a change of fingering she suggested last Tuesday is working beautifully. I was struggling with that trill without any improvement, and now I'm confident I can play the piece!

Hi I am back to US (my plane made it - which is an achievement itself to celebrate!). I mostly practiced my etude today. It's coming but Fugue wasn't. I am still jet rag. It makes me very sleepy. I have to pick up Schubert and Rach where I left off months ago (sigh). I think I will focus on Schubert and Chopin etude for my next recital in May. I now know the fugue will take much longer.

My AOTW: Memorizing the piece which I was meant to learn (not to memorize, just learn how to play from the music) this week. I don't know how I did it, it just happened. Started to play this morning and didn't have to look at the music.

Dejavue! We got us another winter storm just like back in October. It's shaping up exactly the same way as the Oct. storm did. Everyone shutting down. No travel advisory from DOT. Supposed to do nothing but get worse throughout the day. I"m not running today. .... Dejavue!

On the good side. Appreciating my piano teacher. Told me I'm like a juggler who should only be juggling two balls. I'm keep trying to juggle four. I got no business trying to do that. He appreciates my effort. But I got to cut back. Get the basics down.

Sounds like that was a great experience, Farmgirl. The piano in the church. Congrats.

Congrats wimpiano.... Interesting how we can memorize something by not trying so hard.

Good for ya Tourquenale... Interesting how they can show us fingering. Then we sit there and wonder why we didn't try it in the first place?

Oh Bozzo.... Am sure you passed. I agree they probably take nervousness into account. Especially with adults.

Wimpiano- good work on the memorizing --and without even trying! Excellent!

rmaple - my condolences on the weather. It was a mild winter for us and spring is in full bloom right now - temps up to 20Celcius Iknow how hard it is to slow down and take it down an notch - but it will pay off....

Which brings me to my ATOW--- I'm looking forward to my lesson because this week I really did SLOW DOWN. I really crawled along on my study pieces and I can see significant improvements. I'm so pleased I was finally able to truly slow down enough to really (I hope really and truly without backsliding) get a handle on what it means to SLOW DOWN. (is 54 on the metromone slow for a quarternote..yup.... I think it is ...:)

Currently working on: Chopin Waltz in Amin (post), Chopin Nocturne in Cmin (post)

Congrats to all on the recent achievements. Always fun and encouraging to see the ups and downs of everyone's playing, especially while I'm still so new to learning.

Bozzo- Add me to the list of people who are sure you passed. More often than not we come out of any test/exam feeling awful about our performance and are pleasantly surprised by the result. I can't imagine playing in front of an audience at this point, much less people who are listening to judge and critique your performance.

Torquenale- Glad to see an easy fix on fingering led to a big improvement! Wish it was always that simple

FarmGirl- Exciting to read of your travels and thank you for the very cool pictures.

Casinitaly- I admire the discipline in really slowing down during practice. Judging from your MOYD icons in the signature, discipline in practice is a strong quality of yours!

As for my AOTW, finally took the time to set up my digital piano to record. I went with the very simple line out on piano to line in on my laptop and recording through audacity. I have to turn the volume way down to avoid cracking which makes for a slight adjustment when getting ready to record but it will work for now. I guess now I have no excuse to not post something in the Ecco Fatto or Piano Bar thread. I'll be brave soon. Also had a good lesson this week. Good feedback on the small pieces and exercises assigned. Some adjustments on rhythm and making some leaps without looking down seemed to be the main stumbling blocks this week but overall my teacher was pleased with overall progress. I was given the green light to move on to two new pieces to prepare for next lesson

CasinItaly - Good for you! Getting the concept of slow "enough" is a big step. It takes a lot of discipline to play that slow.

My AOTW is submitting my piece for the Tchaikovsky themed recital. It was a difficult piece to master because of its tricky rhythms, but as always, it was a great learning experience and I am glad that I learned it. I can't wait to hear everyone's submissions!

It has been a struggle to have the February quarterly, followed by Joplin, followed by Tchaikovsky, to be followed by the May recital. Whew! Oh, and an ABRSM exam in June. My plate has been full, but I am having a ball!

I've also just started The Entertainer recently - and it's such a lovely, lively, happy tune, which of course I'm also playing considerably slower!! However, after 'He's Got the Whole World...', where I struggled with the timing, this is like a breath of fresh air. Did you play the real version for the children?

Farmgirl, Welcome back. That looked like a pretty cool place to practice...well, maybe just a little creepy . I would have loved to hear how that piano filled the space.

Torquenale, I've got trill issues going right now too. The Mozart piece has a bunch, and ugh, one is interminably long. Been trying to work on it daily but my wife hates the sound of trilling practice. Poor dear puts up with a lot of practice so I don't really blame her.

Cheryl Good for you being able to really slow it down. Often times I've looked back on a piece recently learned and realized that the part that is most solid is the one part I had managed to really slow it down. Ironically sometimes it is the hardest part, to which I might have given extra, slow consideration. Slow definitely wins the race in piano.

N-17 Now that your recording tech is all set, just take that leap and start in. You will be amazed at what you hear once you record yourself....be prepared for a little self-criticism, and then get over that and start working to make it sound better and better each day.

SwissMS Can't imagine doing so many committed performances. Just my one live recital a year screws up about six months of my practicing. Even though my teacher says to just treat the recital piece like any other, I can't do it. It gets extra and everything else gets less. At the moment I've let my keeping up of a repertoire, which was going pretty good, lapse badly. Will try to recover after recital time, but I sure don't feel like I could handle more committed deadlines.

My AOTW was having a pretty good lesson, despite a lot of distractions over the last two or three weeks. (A little minor surgery for me, and a double knee surgery for one of my dogs, poor thing). The Jarrett arrangement is coming along very nicely. This one I am playing slowly with a lot of discipline and that seems to be working. Then there are those Mozart trills....sigh

My AOTW.... I actually practiced everyday. More on a real bad week later. I forced myself to play after long treacherous days at work. It made me feel good. Once I forced myself to start. Didn't want to do anything but sleep, otherwise. When I was younger. I used to attend College part time in the evenings simply for hope of something better. Now I learn piano in hope of creating something better. Always learning, always creative, always evolving.

This week was awful weather wise. Wasn't another record winter storm like in October. But was the same weather effects. Cold air from the north mixed with warm moist air from the south. Started with rain and ice. Monday a no travel advisory from DOT. So didn't work Mon. Then three days in a row. Heavy snow in the morning. Bad road conditions. Truck broke on Tue. Wed was slow as molasses. Constantly slow, avoiding momentum that would cause sliding. Finally caught up this morning, Friday. I sure don't want another week like this again. Everybody here is fed up with winter.

I say that ever year towards the end of our overly hot Summer's, I really should wash my mouth out with soap.

My achievement this week has been a long time coming, or so it seems. Although for many, 14 months isn't a long preparation I feel I am at last ready to tackle some entry level Chopin. An early attempt last year left me with some wounded pride and I gave up on him. But this week I started two of his works and progress is promising which for me has turned an ordinary week into one of the best so far. Even better than when I got on top of The Can Can. (noticed I never said mastered The Can Can lol).

Problems with piano are 90% psychological, the other 10% is in your head.

I say that ever year towards the end of our overly hot Summer's, I really should wash my mouth out with soap...

It is fair play and Equal Opportunity to complain about oppressively hot summers and winters who overstay their welcome!

My AOTW is to keep plugging away. I am not sure if I will finish Alfred 3 before the book completely falls apart. Possibly so if my teacher selects other pieces and waives the "Ambitious" ones. Two of the plastic comb rings broke this week, and I hadn't noticed how many coffee stains there are.

Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.â€“ Roald Dahl

Alfred 3 on the other hand has been a useful tool to develop some skills, but as far as long term love for any of the material--not so much. I think I will bargain with my teacher that once the book finally comes completely undone we will just move on to something else!

Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.â€“ Roald Dahl

Fiddler's fake book! I have that too. I usually have to transpose it 5 steps down and put it in alto clef so that my husband can play viola. Also I love the chord mark. It helps me since I have to add left hand portion to accompany my husband with piano. He is doing "a girl I left behind" now. Cathy, What's your favorite?

Earl of Mar - I think 14 months is a fair amount of preparation! Well done you for reaching a point where you feel able to tackle something that previously would have been too much of a challenge. That definitely seems to be a pretty good guide of progress. Well done!

I do Girl I Left Behind Me as a medley with Angeline the Baker (1). Kesh Jig and Road to Lisdoonvarna (1) are standards for Irish. Si Be Si Mor is a beautiful waltz/air - viola would be wonderful for it. I'll admit to having all the rags and waltzes paperclipped Westphalia waltz is great. Star of the County Down is a wonderful air, and another one that viola would be great for. How fun that you guys can play together.

Maybe you two could a duet, like Sam and Laurie, for one of the ABF quarterlies, eh?

Week 108: I attend a concert featuring Julie Long on flute, piccolo, and Timothy Durkovic on piano. They do pieces by Bach, Poulenc and a friend Daniel Kelly.

This week I revive some old pieces. I use a modification of the Graham Fitch practice suggestion of doing three reps of each short segment, and adding the first note for the next bit. I break some pieces into short segments, as much as seems practical, then play that bit three times, adding the first note/chord from the next segment. I do with an old nemesis, Ashokan Farewell. This was one of my early pieces from year one. I have struggled mightily to perform it live. By breaking it down, I have more fall back positions, which in turn reduces tension and stress, which in turn increases the chance of getting to the end.

The Coursera on Musicianship got so many positive reviews, that I changed my mind and signed up for it. I have to confess I was near clueless on the tonal center exercise. It might be the low quality audio, but more likely it is my ears, and my singing.

Yes! The light went on! After a terrible week. Couldn't practice much. Did make it everyday. Not much though. I actually lost some of the progress I made with one piece were working on.

At my lesson. Teacher worked with me great. Very wise and understanding. He's having me work from my simple version of Schindler's List. Making it a full version using chords. Teaching me understanding of chords in the process. There is one passage of two bars that gets repeated. But changes. I was kinda just playing the parrot in this. Until he explained this second passage. Really beautiful how he replaces the right hand playing notes with chords in the left. The left is no longer support for the right in this case. The left takes over the lead with a couple chords. I guess it's kinda like my having to have all my ducks in a row in my mind. The light went on. I understood it. Understood what he was doing! Big AOTW! Was great. After the lesson I had to practice those two passages over and over. Couldn't get away from them. I got em down! This is gonna be really beautiful when finished. Looking forward to submitting this to the quarterly recital someday.

I was actually sick with cold this week. So not so much progress was made. The only thing I did was to work on the Chopin étude and Schubert sonata (one mvmnt only). No "aha" moment for me this week. But I'm now able to play through the étude. I decided to play the étude and Schubert piece for my next recital at the community college. So I have to start working hard for Schubert. If I feel better tomorrow ( I hope so) I can definately read it through. It's not so complicated to read.

I also noodled around for a while playing through Chopin prelude book. I read in other thread someone is going through a boring piece in the prelude book. That sparked my interest. I probably shouldn't have when I am sick. But my hubby is out of town. So I indulged myself. It was fun. Also felt good because I can play some of those pieces looked formidable when I was a kid. I'm not talking about all the prelude. Some of the stuff is pretty hard. After all it's Chopin. Just the pieces I played before.

rnaple and Sand Tiger - I am so looking forward to hearing these pieces. I bet they will be beautiful. I will admit to playing Ashokan Farewell from a lead sheet, rather than using the sheet music, so it is easier for me. I got to hear Jacquelin Schwab, who was the music director for the PBS Civil War series and recorded this, in a concert once when she was doing a folk music workshop. Wowser. At any rate, they are both lovely pieces, and I bet fun to work on.

I was actually sick with cold this week. So not so much progress was made. The only thing I did was to work on the Chopin étude and Schubert sonata (one mvmnt only). No "aha" moment for me this week. But I'm now able to play through the étude. I decided to play the étude and Schubert piece for my next recital at the community college. So I have to start working hard for Schubert. If I feel better tomorrow ( I hope so) I can definately read it through. It's not so complicated to read.

I also noodled around for a while playing through Chopin prelude book. I read in other thread someone is going through a boring piece in the prelude book. That sparked my interest. I probably shouldn't have when I am sick. But my hubby is out of town. So I indulged myself. It was fun. Also felt good because I can play some of those pieces looked formidable when I was a kid. I'm not talking about all the prelude. Some of the stuff is pretty hard. After all it's Chopin. Just the pieces I played before.

Brighton was cold when I was there. The church was cold at night and I had to go to nearby pub whenever I had to go to bathroom. As I mentioned before it does not have a bathroom. In a pub, I felt obligated to order a pint, beer creates more need and I found myself caught in the circular events. Pub owner must thought I was crazy.

I miss the church though. It had an air of old and abandoned church with missing stained glasses here and there (covered up by wood). It was worth it. Probably it's nothing for people in England. But there is nothing like that here in Arizona.